The issue is the big corporate farms, that grow crop on thousands of acres of land, don't like being restricted as to where they can sell their grain here in Canada, the Wheat Board originated out of necessity, to help small farmers be able to sell their crop competitively during the depression in the 30's. It still is the best way for a small farmer like ourselves to market our couple thousand bushels of grain every year. But the big, big grain farmers want to sell their grain on the open market. They have dreams of loading a B train (truck with two grain trailers) and hopping across the border to take advantage of the higher U.S. grain prices. They are just not looking far enough ahead...the Americans are notorious for slapping tariffs and outright border closures on any Canadian product that might prove to be competition for their own producers. ie: soft wood lumber, and more recently, BSE and the beef industry. The American group, R-calf , pressured the American government into closing the Canada-US border to all Canadian beef for four long years, basically cutting our industry off at the knees and prices were in the toilet for eight years because of it. While the U.S. continued to ship its beef into Canada to be fed in our feedlots. Driving the price even lower by over supply. Free trade is suppose to ensure that while the U.S enjoys having it's neighbours to the north to ship it's products to, we, in turn should enjoy the same pleasure. But they slap tariffs and fines and outright border closures on our products and tie the cases up for years in the court system, we CANADIANS obey the free trade laws and do nothing in retaliation, allowing them to continue selling their products here with no tariffs, fines or God forbid we close the border.
Anyway, Harper and his minions have vetoed the farmers vote which by the way was I think (don't quote me on this) 67% in favour of keeping the Canadian Wheat Board in place. Yup, he basically spat in the face of democracy and over rode our vote, there is a few months to appeal, since the decision has to go in front of the senate before becoming legislation, but we all know that the senate is stuffed with Harper cronies...all slobbering and salivating to fulfill his wishes.
So, as a small family farm, WE THANK YOU, STEVE.
For pulling the rug out from under us and proving yet again that the people who grow the very food your children eat mean nothing to you. We have once again handed over any power we might have had as to our own fate to the politicians, who abuse their power and have cut the small farmer off at the knees, yet again. Thanks.
I have been stewing over this next discovery for a while now and decided I was never going to come up with a NICE way to talk about it.
Just for the record, I am not angry, pissed or sad about it, just amused, and a bit aghast at the whole thing. It's silly really, and inconsequential in the whole scheme of things but still worth chatting about. You might actually get a laugh out of it...I know several people have...I am just resigned to it and after my initial surprise, wasn't at all surprised, if that makes sense to you.
Okay, you all probably know, from my whining about it a million times, that I grew up a bit of a needy kid....being the middle girl in the house I grew up in, meant that I was sometimes overlooked...being a Tom boy girl, didn't help and being shorter and bulkier than my twig thin sisters was a big problem. Peg being the oldest got most of the new clothes, and she was a girls girl so there were ruffles, ribbons and embellishments galore. When she out grew them they were suppose to pass to me, but much to my mothers chagrin, I was bustier and beefier than Peg and so the nice clothes bypassed me (much to my relief) and fit Pam instead. But rather than just getting me some slightly bigger new clothing, I was subjected to the clothes shopping expeditions at the sally Ann (salvation army store). Oh, how I hated those days. My first bra came from the sally Ann. I can still feel the mortifying heat in my cheeks as my mother held up a too large, yellowing cross your heart Playtex bra to my chest and said "turn around and look in the mirror" (yes they had a mirror in the thrift store, they must have got it from a CONKLIN SHOWS FUN HOUSE, it was the kind that made you look like a midget with no legs and a huge head...imagine my humiliation. The ultimate shame came during grade four picture day at school, each class was called down to the gym for individual pictures and then group shots, and while in line for individual pictures I was sandwiched between two girls who were from the popular group with their skinny little legs in pantyhose and their flat chests covered in ruffles and lace. I was feeling some what good about myself because I was wearing what I thought was a pretty cool dress, multi-coloured with a mandarin collar and short sleeves, I had on knee socks and my sister Pegs heeled shoes, which I waited until she left for school before "BORROWING" when one girl said to the other, something about a clowns dress and her sister had one just like it once before she joined weight watchers, the other girl giggled and then the first girl said my mom gave all her BIG clothes to our cousin except that one cause it had a stain on it, right there, and while she is saying this she points at my dress and what do you know, there was a stain there....both girls went dead quiet and I turned and left the line...when I looked back they were whispering to each other. The teacher found me in the girls shower room...and drug me back to the end of the line...I have the group picture of that grade of school but I think I destroyed the individual one, because I knew where the stain was and I could see it even thought my mother swore you couldn't see it if you didn't know it was there.....
So I grew up with a very big issue about clothes from the thrift stores, and I know that now that is a big thing, people, even wealthy ones, shopping in thrift stores...but the stores have changed a lot since the sixties and early seventies...famous label clothing and bags are all the rage there...they weren't like that back then. My moms favorite thing was the dollar bags...the store clerks would take a brown paper grocery bag, fill it with clothes for a certain gender and age range and sell them for a dollar, so when you went in the door they were on a table to the right.... male/ adult female/child etc......
my mom would buy a few of these bags and we would have to wear the clothes all summer. Once I was baby sitting a lot and saved my money I was buying a lot of my own clothes...jeans, T's and jackets.
But my issue with anything hand me down is still with me today and while I was recently at my nieces for a visit she and I looked through her mom's (pegs) photo albums and I saw some pictures I had never seen before or don't remember ever seeing. There were some photo's of my first wedding in which peg was maid of honour and she and mother organised the dresses and flowers, I admit I wasn't a lot help in that department and I was only 18 and it was all happening so fast my head was still trying to catch up.....
A little further in the album I see for the first time pictures of Pegs first wedding. At first I just thought she looked lovely, and then I said hey, she had the same veil as me...so I flipped back to my picture and gasped....good god, I had a hand me down, second hand wedding. While I was not wearing her actual dress, (which was store bought) my home made one was very similar in some ways...a high neck, nearly the same veil and her bridesmaids wore turquoise so did mine (peg and pam) her flowers were yellow and orange, so were the ones they chose for my wedding, plastic to boot. so whether it was deliberate or subconscious, I don't know but it is too freaky to be coincidence. take a look at the pictures..... she was married in 73/74 or there abouts and I was married in 77.
I am back working outside on the corrals again. All work halted while I was gone and I am now cracking the whip with a vengeance to have it done before we move the cows home from the field. Robt is having to chop holes in the ice of a ditch for them to find water and it is going to turn cold again so even that will be insufficient besides hard work.
Our Christmas plans so far are to stay home and work. I will cook us a turkey dinner and freeze the left overs for calving time. But it will all be low key this year, no travelling I think and no pressure of being cheery for the neighbours so you don't ruin there Christmas. Maybe we will have a Wii tournament between Robt and I. He is a competitive jerk sometimes but he cracks me up with his intensity. hahahaha Who knew quiet, mild mannered Robt would be so combative at bowling and table tennis. hahahaha
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